I just registered to write my thoughts on my new AIR!

[TheRealAir]

Ok, so I have been a Mac user since 2006 with the Mac Mini and Macbook, before that I have used Windows since the 3.1 version so that might get you to understand where I am coming from.

In 2005 I got a nice virus and everything I had stored went to ******, this was with an updated anti-virus software, so after that experience I looked around for something new, I was tired Windows as you can imagine.
A friend of mine recommended OS X. I looked a little online and it presented itself very nice and was not prone to viruses so I went and bought myself into the Apple-experience.

Fast forward till yesterday, I got my Macbook Air:
2014, i7, 1.7GHz, 8GB, 256SSD.

Let me first explain what I use this for. I have my own company, I do a lot of work in Excel, Word, Safari, Mail and Photoshop. This thing is F A S T. I have all apps open at ones, no lag or anything, I can listen to iTunes at the same time without anything slowing down.... and it is S I L E N T, you hear nothing, only time I heard the fans were when I installed Yosemite (clean install of course).

Carrying this beast is so easy, super slim, super light yet super sturdy, this thing is a amazing.

I just wanted to come on here and say this, it´s an amazing machine. I first thought about buying the Macbook Pro with 2Gb Dedicated GPU, but for what? From what I hear those retina machines can get warm much faster and prone to problems down the road. My Macbook Air is P E R F E C T!


5 out of 5 whatever, these things are amazing.



/Thanks from Sweden.

 

[joshlalonde]

My Personal Review

Alright, let's share our reviews of the MacBook Air. Let's keep this to 2014 models only, perhaps?

The idea of getting an Apple product was kind of ridiculous to me. I considered Apple products over-priced (I still think they mostly are), pure eye candy, and inferior in many ways.

My ideal product? One made by Microsoft, of course! I purchased a Surface RT for my birthday, which was launch day. And it was awesome! Soon, however, the initial excitement wore off. Where were the apps? It was kind of disappointing. To this day, I think the iPad is missing a lot of features, but at least it has all the apps.

Fast forward to 2014, I have a Surface RT, a Windows Phone (Lumia 520) and running 8.1 on my 6-year old laptop. Preparing for college, and I'm excited, because it's time to buy a new laptop! My old laptop was out-dated when I got it, so it was horrendous now. Less than an hours battery, Pentium processor, heavy...

And my ideal laptop replacement? The Surface Pro 3! It had a pen and everything. And then I started researching... Thermal throttling, less than all day battery, trade-offs made. And its price! Just then, my original Surface broke down and I had it replaced. And then its touchscreen drivers weren't working.

On a day I didn't feel the love for Microsoft, I turned to the exact opposite, Apple! I had known about the existence of the MacBook for quite some time. Let's see, the ability to play medium-level 3D games without throttling, the lightness, the best-in-class battery life, and even the price were major selling points. I had also considered the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, which would have been a nice buy as well, but the MacBook was cheaper. Plus, I was starting to think that OS X was going to be a lot more enjoyable now that I knew about it.

Finally, after waiting months to buy this device (I started researching in June), I purchased my MacBook Air from Best Buy in late August. It had gone on sale again, for $100 less than usual. With little time to spare before student deals ended, I walked in, and walked out with my brand-new MacBook.

I decided to unbox in Starbucks just so I could feel like a hipster. I was sort of trying to make myself feel better after just having spent $1,300. It may have cost less than the competition, but boys, it wasn't cheap.

To this day, I'm glad I got it. I'm typing this while sitting in bed.

Edit:

Just wanted to point out that I'm not saying the Surface Pro 3 isn't a great device for everyone. I still think it's pretty okay, just you won't be as happy I think. One of my frustrations with Windows is that it has this nice touch interface set up, but there's very little you can do with it- there are no apps. Don't tell me there are, the ones that exist are pathetic compared to their Android/iOS counterparts.
Also, throttling won't affect most of you, perhaps, but for a 19-year old programmer, gaming is a must. I don't play heavy games on this thing, but I've been pleasantly surprised. Games include Skyrim, League of Legends, Minecraft, and a few others. I could probably play last years games on low detail. You couldn't play half of the games I can play before your CPU throttles. Thank Microsoft for sacrificing cooling for thinness.

Lastly, I don't worship Apple either. I think Apple needs a lot of improvements. But I will say Apple is still superior to Microsoft in terms of attention to detail, customer support and platform wise. Even now, Windows Phone is no longer superior to iOS. I believe it was just a year ago.

 

[Nickwell24]

Let me first explain what I use this for. I have my own company, I do a lot of work in Excel, Word, Safari, Mail and Photoshop


/Thanks from Sweden.

What do you use Photoshop to do? I'm considering picking up an Air for Lightroom and Photoshop but was concerned about them being under powered.

 

[TheRealAir]

What do you use Photoshop to do? I'm considering picking up an Air for Lightroom and Photoshop but was concerned about them being under powered.

Mostly clipping (or maybe it is called masking) = cutting out the background. I use it for product pictures. I work with some pretty big images from DSLR cameras and it runs very smooth, could not be happier.
I first thought I HAD to get a Macbook Pro but my computer is even overkill for the basic tasks that I do, I think the 8GB of ram does a lot.

 

[motrek]

What do you use Photoshop to do? I'm considering picking up an Air for Lightroom and Photoshop but was concerned about them being under powered.

The base model MBA would be pretty high spec just a few years ago and people were using Photoshop successfully back then.

 

[Dsching]

The base model MBA would be pretty high spec just a few years ago and people were using Photoshop successfully back then.

Very well put! Folks are to ocupyd with specs.

 

[Meister]

Enjoy! The mba is awesome.

 

[Nickwell24]

Very well put! Folks are to ocupyd with specs.

I don't care a lick about specs. All I care about is if something can successfully run Photoshop CS6 efficiently with multiple 24MB picture file and multiple masking layers. Specs are too confusing for me to understand. Five years ago I bought a MBP with a 2.4 C2D Processor, now it seems like a 1.4 C2D processor will actually perform better than it. It's very confusing to me without asking other users for their input and experience.

 

[Christian 5G]

Loving it also! =)

 

[John marts]

I always thought the air was an underpowered kind of slow computer. My opinion changed a bit when they introduced the flash storage but I still never thought it would be any good for programs like garageband or iMovie. I bought one 2 weeks ago and its the best computer I've ever owned. Its extremely quick and even handles heavy tasks like its punching way above its own weight.

 

[ccard3dev]

Very well put! Folks are to ocupyd with specs.

That is very true!

Students at my school always tell me that my MacBook Air is an inferior computer because it isn't a laptop-tablet-tent-projector-[insert gimmick here]. However, the MacBook Air is designed to be one thing: a laptop, and it is the best laptop I have owned.

 

[outlawarth]

Ok, so I have been a Mac user since 2006 with the Mac Mini and Macbook, before that I have used Windows since the 3.1 version so that might get you to understand where I am coming from.



In 2005 I got a nice virus and everything I had stored went to ******, this was with an updated anti-virus software, so after that experience I looked around for something new, I was tired Windows as you can imagine.

A friend of mine recommended OS X. I looked a little online and it presented itself very nice and was not prone to viruses so I went and bought myself into the Apple-experience.



Fast forward till yesterday, I got my Macbook Air:

2014, i7, 1.7GHz, 8GB, 256SSD.



Let me first explain what I use this for. I have my own company, I do a lot of work in Excel, Word, Safari, Mail and Photoshop. This thing is F A S T. I have all apps open at ones, no lag or anything, I can listen to iTunes at the same time without anything slowing down.... and it is S I L E N T, you hear nothing, only time I heard the fans were when I installed Yosemite (clean install of course).



Carrying this beast is so easy, super slim, super light yet super sturdy, this thing is a amazing.



I just wanted to come on here and say this, it´s an amazing machine. I first thought about buying the Macbook Pro with 2Gb Dedicated GPU, but for what? From what I hear those retina machines can get warm much faster and prone to problems down the road. My Macbook Air is P E R F E C T!





5 out of 5 whatever, these things are amazing.







/Thanks from Sweden.

Thanks for sharing. I love my 11 inch 2014 air. What screen size did you get?

 

[Ulenspiegel]

My story is almost identical to TheRealAir's. Have been using PCs since 1980s. Started with DOS, then Windows. Never was and never will be a fan of Windows. I have spent numerous sleepless nights over those years fixing computers at home. One positive side I got to know Windows in and out. I prefer portables over desktops. Some years ago somehow I did not feel the urge to replace my Laptop, so I decided to try the Netbook. It was a Sony Vaio. Used it, can't say that loved it. With years my priorities of use changed. I realized that I don't need anymore the best of the best. So, I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Liked it a lot, could do anything with it what I wanted. Bought an Apple BT Keyboard and was able to write normaly, forgetting the virtual keyboard. After two years got fed up, no firmware update, the Tab became slow and freezing more than acceptable. Time has come to buy something new.
I always admired Apple products, but considered them overpriced and limited in use. Some days ago I decided to have a new Tab and a new Laptop, so I bought a MacBook Air 2014. It is amazing! I enjoy it immensly. I have already had my little "fights" with the unknown, but intuitive OS X. Was able to solve all the problems. I am not going back to the Windows road. It does not mean that from this moment on I will use only Apple products, but my PC will always be from Cupertino.